In the eyes of the aristocratic elites, Mr Samak - like Thaksin Shinawatra before him - violates what many academics have noted lies at the core of Thai society: the ancient feudal 'Sakdina' system in which, essentially, everyone should know and accept his place.

It is not easy, however, to label Mr Samak, who is clearly a complex man.

In his time he has written fiery political columns for newspapers; allegedly encouraged right-wing mobs to attack protesting students in the bloody massacre of 1976 at Thammasat University; served in several Cabinets; governed the city of Bangkok; and turned his culinary skills into a successful TV show which made him a household name.

In May 1992, when troops loyal to the dictator General Suchinda Kraprayoon attacked unarmed pro-democracy protesters in the streets, Mr Samak, then deputy prime minister, called the demonstrators 'troublemakers' who needed to be controlled.

He has twin daughters, one of whom works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Those who know the daughters say they are very different from their father. 'They are polite and nice,' one Thai official told The Straits Times.

The gravel-voiced Mr Samak, a Bangkok native with a law degree, is generally seen as neither nice nor polite.

He is also a strident royalist - a crucial factor in his favour in the last election in which the People Power Party (PPP) emerged as the single largest party and went on to form a coalition government.

Before and during the campaign for the Dec 23 elections, he used his formidable skills as a public orator to scathingly criticise General Prem Tinsulanonda - a respected elder statesman, former prime minister and, as president of the Privy Council, the King's closest adviser.

But he thundered his loyalty to the King and pointed to his family's history of serving the Chakri dynasty, claiming that Gen Prem was staining the good image of the monarchy by interfering in politics - a reference to the September 2006 coup widely believed to have been orchestrated by Gen Prem, which forced then premier Thaksin from office.

Last September, in a long interview with The Straits Times in his mansion in Bangkok shortly after being named head of the PPP, Mr Samak said: 'Three months after the June 2006 celebrations of the King's 60 years on the throne, they overthrew the government in the name of the King.

'Their revolution used the name of the King, so that it seemed to people all over the world that our King was involved. But that is impossible... I would like to bring back the good name of the monarchy.'

Throughout the interview he was warm, courteous and friendly - unlike the irascible man who sometimes emerges at press conferences and has the Thai media bristling.

At one recent press conference, a female Thai reporter asked a question about infighting within the PPP, which he answered by snapping: 'Did you have sinful sex last night?'

One other problem he faces is that despite his appeal to the masses, the PPP's win was not necessarily his win.

In the final days of the campaign, voters in markets in Chiang Mai, speaking to The Straits Times, often expressed mixed feelings about Mr Samak but said they would vote for his party because it meant Thaksin's policies would be restored.

nirmal@sph.com.sg